Go4Long
09-04-2013, 09:29 PM
It's making the rounds on the facebook. Personally I think the article is incredibly one sided, and they're going out of their way to make the school look bad.
But even the little bit of facts they're providing show where the problem lies. Calgary Arts Academy hasn't said she can't come there, they've said that they will be unable to provide her with a full time aide...the article argues that that is "despite them getting $17'000 a year in funding." But my argument to that point is how much does an aide cost these days?
If the article had been titled "Calgary Arts Academy raises fees to cover cost of girl with Cerebral Palsy's aide" I think the reaction would be entirely different.
Thought?
http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/09/04/calgary-arts-academy-has-lots-of-cash-just-not-for-disabled-students
Calgary Arts Academy has lots of cash, just not for disabled students
A budget surplus of $78,641, and a superintendent whose pay and benefits package has risen from $62,100 to $129,330 in just three years.
This is the same charter school claiming it can’t afford special support for a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, meaning Salem Geczi may be forced to leave Calgary Arts Academy at the end of this school year.
Even that guaranteed class time is a victory for Salem as she enters Grade 2, given the uncertainty that she’d even be allowed to stay at the tax-funded school for another semester.
Calgary Arts Academy wants her out, saying it can’t offer the same support that made Grade 1 such an academic and social success — and without a special aide to assist with tasks like bathroom visits, Salem will be forced to leave.
“We cannot continue to provide this service. Should Salem continue as a student at Calgary Arts Academy, she would receive the same program and level of service provided to other students,” wrote school superintendent Dale Erickson in a letter to Salem’s parents, dated Aug. 30.
That means no more special help, despite $17,000 in extra provincial funding to cover Salem’s unique needs.
Alberta Education has since firmly reminded the academy that special education students, once enrolled, must stay for the full year — and that means a special aide will be there to help Salem until at least next June.
It’s a partial victory. But the girl’s parents vow to keep fighting until the school agrees Salem can stay until her Grade 9 graduation.
“She’s okay for this year, but they won’t say anything about next year — so is this going to happen to us every year? Do we have to spend each year worrying?” said Kathleen Henrichon, Salem’s mother.
“This is another year when Salem will end up with closer bonds to her friends, and be more rooted in the school. They say they won’t have the resources, but we went to that school with nine years of schooling in mind, not this every year.”
The parents’ fight to secure Salem’s future has brought the controversial issue of special education and charter schools to the forefront.
Despite receiving tax dollars, amounting to $8,000 per student, Alberta’s School Act says charter schools do not have to accept special education students — a rule that allows the exclusion of less-than perfect kids from the student population.
Calgary Arts Academy at least gave Salem a chance, allowing her to enroll for Grade 1, while using the $17,000 to hire a full-time aide for the girl.
But despite a glowing report card, officials now say she’ll have to go.
“Your resident public or separate board is legally responsible to provide a special education program for Salem, and it is advisable that such a program be pursued,” reads the superintendent’s letter.
The reason is money, and the school claims it can’t afford a special aide — especially if the province cuts special education funding next year, as feared.
But Alberta Education says special education funding remains unchanged, making that argument moot.
As for the claim of being unable to afford a student with cerebral palsy, their own financial statements show this is not a charter struggling to make ends meet.
As well as a revenue surplus approaching $80,000 for 2012, the statements show Erickson’s salary went from $55,200 in 2009 to $117,573 in 2012, while his benefits jumped from $6,900 to $11,757 in the same period.
That’s not to suggest Erickson doesn’t deserve by far the biggest pay raise at the academy (teachers averaged $65,000 in 2009 and $88,000 in 2012), and one supportive parent who contacted the Sun said the superintendent “never stops, so I’d say he’s earning his keep.”
But this is clearly a school far from struggling, with money and fat raises to spare.
Somehow, there’s nothing left for Salem.
[email protected]
On Twitter: @SunMichaelPlatt
But even the little bit of facts they're providing show where the problem lies. Calgary Arts Academy hasn't said she can't come there, they've said that they will be unable to provide her with a full time aide...the article argues that that is "despite them getting $17'000 a year in funding." But my argument to that point is how much does an aide cost these days?
If the article had been titled "Calgary Arts Academy raises fees to cover cost of girl with Cerebral Palsy's aide" I think the reaction would be entirely different.
Thought?
http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/09/04/calgary-arts-academy-has-lots-of-cash-just-not-for-disabled-students
Calgary Arts Academy has lots of cash, just not for disabled students
A budget surplus of $78,641, and a superintendent whose pay and benefits package has risen from $62,100 to $129,330 in just three years.
This is the same charter school claiming it can’t afford special support for a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, meaning Salem Geczi may be forced to leave Calgary Arts Academy at the end of this school year.
Even that guaranteed class time is a victory for Salem as she enters Grade 2, given the uncertainty that she’d even be allowed to stay at the tax-funded school for another semester.
Calgary Arts Academy wants her out, saying it can’t offer the same support that made Grade 1 such an academic and social success — and without a special aide to assist with tasks like bathroom visits, Salem will be forced to leave.
“We cannot continue to provide this service. Should Salem continue as a student at Calgary Arts Academy, she would receive the same program and level of service provided to other students,” wrote school superintendent Dale Erickson in a letter to Salem’s parents, dated Aug. 30.
That means no more special help, despite $17,000 in extra provincial funding to cover Salem’s unique needs.
Alberta Education has since firmly reminded the academy that special education students, once enrolled, must stay for the full year — and that means a special aide will be there to help Salem until at least next June.
It’s a partial victory. But the girl’s parents vow to keep fighting until the school agrees Salem can stay until her Grade 9 graduation.
“She’s okay for this year, but they won’t say anything about next year — so is this going to happen to us every year? Do we have to spend each year worrying?” said Kathleen Henrichon, Salem’s mother.
“This is another year when Salem will end up with closer bonds to her friends, and be more rooted in the school. They say they won’t have the resources, but we went to that school with nine years of schooling in mind, not this every year.”
The parents’ fight to secure Salem’s future has brought the controversial issue of special education and charter schools to the forefront.
Despite receiving tax dollars, amounting to $8,000 per student, Alberta’s School Act says charter schools do not have to accept special education students — a rule that allows the exclusion of less-than perfect kids from the student population.
Calgary Arts Academy at least gave Salem a chance, allowing her to enroll for Grade 1, while using the $17,000 to hire a full-time aide for the girl.
But despite a glowing report card, officials now say she’ll have to go.
“Your resident public or separate board is legally responsible to provide a special education program for Salem, and it is advisable that such a program be pursued,” reads the superintendent’s letter.
The reason is money, and the school claims it can’t afford a special aide — especially if the province cuts special education funding next year, as feared.
But Alberta Education says special education funding remains unchanged, making that argument moot.
As for the claim of being unable to afford a student with cerebral palsy, their own financial statements show this is not a charter struggling to make ends meet.
As well as a revenue surplus approaching $80,000 for 2012, the statements show Erickson’s salary went from $55,200 in 2009 to $117,573 in 2012, while his benefits jumped from $6,900 to $11,757 in the same period.
That’s not to suggest Erickson doesn’t deserve by far the biggest pay raise at the academy (teachers averaged $65,000 in 2009 and $88,000 in 2012), and one supportive parent who contacted the Sun said the superintendent “never stops, so I’d say he’s earning his keep.”
But this is clearly a school far from struggling, with money and fat raises to spare.
Somehow, there’s nothing left for Salem.
[email protected]
On Twitter: @SunMichaelPlatt